Wednesday, November 30, 2016

After being bothered year after year by the bare wall behind-and-beside the mantel--and that is always behind our Christmas tree in pictures--I finally figured out what I wanted to do with it: patchwork, of course--and set to work.

I went back and forth about it for awhile this morning but decided just to use dabs of hot glue to hang the fabric pieces since I've already told the apartment's building manager I'll fix up the walls with a fresh coat of paint whenever the day comes to move out. If I have to spackle/patch a few more spots before repainting, I'll live. Scrap by scrap this morning, then, the narrow strip to at least one side of the mantel was transformed. The rest will have to wait until tomorrow, but ooh la la, even this much just SENDS me. :)

Below is what it looked like pre-Christmas tree last year.

The green floral wall is only about three feet wide, and the formerly-bare one a little over two feet. After Christmas, this tiny corner will become my writing corner. I've already chosen a (black) corner-desk, since the two desks I've inherited from grandparents are both still at my parents' house and neither would fit into this little apartment anyway, and I have a few other things tucked away in the bedroom closet to add to my writing spot once it's all set up. Before that, though, it'll be the corner for the tree.

By tomorrow. . . !

And between this and the patchwork lampshade I dolled-up in September, I'll have used almost my entire stash of saved fabric pieces, which is a most satisfying little accomplishment. It annoys me to have bags of things like that sitting around or squirreled away, especially in such a small home. Stuffed approves.

Ah, home!

Love, love, love! And soon, there will be a Christmas tree and twinkling lights in this picture--All the better. ♥

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Mike is out of town visiting family and sent this picture to me today from his parents' home while I was at work. Ha! They're everywhere, these crazy hearts. Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating today, and a good day to you all. ♥

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

As I've said before, I love Election Day. I'm happy to see everyone out and about and in the often-long lines at the polling places, no matter to whom their votes are going. I myself was in line at seven this morning, and forty-five minutes later was walking home in the most gorgeous November weather wearing my "I voted" sticker.

'More than a few "pantsuits for Hillary" at the two polling places I observed today, and there were likely as many Donald Trump supporters beside them. Peace to us all. ♥ I love this day. I love that people care enough to take the time, period.

I made up plates of Grandma's fudge to take to the volunteers at the two polling places nearest me. My original plan had included taking fudge to both Hillary Clinton's and Donald Trump's campaign headquarters, as well--♪ What the world needs now is love, sweet love ♫--but when I walked a plate of fudge over to Clinton's listed headquarters, the office/storefront was already boarded-up and padlocked--I thought it would still be active at its stated address at least through tonight--and Trump's headquarters were in two suburbs of the city too far for me to get to this evening. My good wishes and respect to us all, then, butGrandma's fudge ended up going only to the volunteers. :)

'Returns-watching the rest of the night here for me, and tomorrow, my second run since mid-August. I'm finally healthy again--thank you ♥--and happy to enjoy what's left of this beautiful autumn. It is a day of hope here, to be sure.

"At any given moment, no matter where you are, there are hundreds of things around you that are interesting and worth documenting."

~ Keri Smith

"I think that one must always be in love. To be in love with a person is, of course, ideal, but you can be in love with a flower, a tree, an idea. . . ."

~ Gloria Vanderbilt

"BE KIND WHENEVER POSSIBLE.

IT IS ALWAYS POSSIBLE."

~ THE DALAI LAMA

"Have a heart that never hardens,

and a temper that never tires,

and a touch that never hurts."

~ Charles Dickens

"Love is, above all, the gift of oneself." ~ Jean Anouilh

"Celebrate people who are in your life-- past and present, close by as well as far away. Thank everyone who contributes to your sense of well-being and joy, whether you know them personally or not. Every day, think of all the people who help make your life so rich and rewarding."

~ Alexandra Stoddard

"I'm not expecting to grow flowers in the desert,

But I can live and breathe and see the sun in wintertime."

~ "In a Big Country" by Big Country

"If you are any good at all, you know you can be better."

~ Lindsey Buckingham

"What thou lovest well remains,

the rest is dross ~

What thou lov’st well shall not be reft from thee ~

What thou lov’st well is thy true heritage."

~ Ezra Pound

"Let us make memories carefully of all good things, rejoicing in the wonderful truth that while we are laying up for ourselves the very sweetest and best of happy memories, we are at the same time giving them to others." ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

"There are things you do because they feel right & they may make no sense & they may make no money & it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other & to eat each other's cooking & say it was good."

~ Brian Andreas

"There is always something left to love. And if you ain't learned that, you ain't learned nothing." ~ Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun

"Years ago, my mother used to say to me --she'd say, 'In this world, Elwood, you must be --' She always called me Elwood. 'In this world, Elwood, you must be oh, so smart or oh, so pleasant.' Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. And you may quote me."

~ Elwood P. Dowd in Mary Chase's play Harvey

"One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn't pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore faith in yourself." ~ Lucille Ball

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." ~ Anatole France

"A house with Daffodils in it is a house lit up, whether or not the sun be shining outside." ~ A. A. Milne

"When something is too beautiful or too terrible or even too funny for words, then it is time for poetry."

My Beloved Pink & White Garden :)

"Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great, make you feel that you too can become great." ~ Mark Twain************

"Be not afraid of going slowly. Be afraid of standing still."~ Chinese proverb

After My First 5K :)

During My First Half Marathon :)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "Is life worth so much trouble?"

* "It depends what one wants in return."

~ Daughter to Student in The Ghost Sonata by August Strindberg~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Anyone who ever gave you confidence, you owe them a lot."

~ Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany's, spoken by Holly Golightly

"When we have sampled much and have wandered far and have seen how fleeting and sometimes superficial a lot of the world is, our gratitude grows for the privilege of being part of something we can count on—home and family and the loyalty of loved ones. We come to know what it means to be bound together by duty, by respect, by belonging."

~ Thomas S. Monson

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths.

These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern.

Beautiful people do not just happen.”

~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Death: The Final Stage of Growth

“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.”